Selecting Indicator Species Habitat Description and Sustainable Land Utilization: A Case Study in a Mediterranean Delta

In this study, we have used an innovative method instead of the classical methods to understand whether species could be utilized as indicators for habitat description. The targeted insect groups, which have been found to have more likelihood to contain indicator species, were chosen among the species spending most of their life cycles in the soil surface layer in Cukurova river delta in the Adana province in southern Turkey. The experiments were conducted in both 2003 and 2004. The insect species, caught by pitfall traps, which were set up in five different biotopes, were tested using the Indicator Species Analysis to find out whether they have indicator values for habitat description. There are been seven insect species found that have statistical significance as indicator species for a habitat description. © 2010 Friends Science Publishers